Daily GK Updates - 17th July, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corporation acquires Yatra Online for $218 million: Yatra Online, Inc. and Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corporation entered into a definitive merger agreement. The transaction values Yatra at an enterprise value of 218 million dollars (1458 crore rupees).Yatra in its statement said that it intends to be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol"YTRA" following completion of the transaction.

2. NalandaMahavihara inscribed as 33^rd World Heritage Site in India: The ruins of ancient NalandaMahavihara known as old Nalanda University of Bihar on got inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.With this, Nalanda University ruins became the second World Heritage Site in Bihar after Bodhgaya's Mahabodhi temple and 33rd such site in India.

3. ‘Ramayana Month’ begins in Kerala: Kerala on 16 July 2016 started observing Ramayana month in the temples. In Malayalam it is termed as the Ramayana Masam. The Ramayana Month starts with the commencement of Malayalam month ‘Karkidakam’.During this month the temples and homes of the state recites Adhyatma Ramayanam  Kilippattu written by medieval devotional poet Thunjath Ezhuthachan for the 30 days. Ezhuthachan is regarded as the father of Malayalam literature.

4. Rare Marbled Map butterfly sighted in Eastern Ghats: Rare Marbled Map butterfly was sighted in Eastern Ghats near PM Kota village of Maredumillimandal in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. This is the first time that the Marbled Map butterfly species, usually found in the north-east, was sighted in South India.

5. Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi appointed as Chairman of CBSE.

6. K V R Murthy appointed as CMD of Jute Corp of India.

7. Supreme Court ordered restoration of NabamTuki Government in Arunachal Pradesh: For this purpose, it also quashed the Kalikho Pul government that came into power on 19 February 2016 after Governor J P Rajkhowa ordered dismissal of Nabam Tuki led government of the state.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Peru declares Zika emergency in 11 states: The Peru Government declared Zika health emergency across the northern half of the country.The emergency was declared after 102 people have been confirmed to be infected with the virus, 34 of which are pregnant women.

OTHER UPDATES:

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

1. Book titled ‘Courage and Commitment’ authored by Margaret Alva released.